The eye-popping prediction that the proportion of government debt to gross domestic product would top 60 percent by 2024 sent the rand down as much as 2.3 percent, wiping out this year’s gains. “Moody’s should like this,” said Geoff Kendrick, a London-based strategist at Standard Chartered, which took profit on its position in the lira-versus-rand cross. The rand added 0.6 percent as of 5:28 p.m. in Johannesburg, among the top gainers in emerging markets, to 13.9589 per dollar, and the yield on government debt due 2026 declined five basis points to 8.82 percent.

Moody's earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018 have MCO stock up despite reporting a miss on Friday.Moody's (NYSE:MCO) reported earnings per share of $1.63 for the fourth quarter of the year. This is up from its earnings per share of $1.51 reported during the same time last year. However, it fails to reach Wall Street's earnings per share estimate of $1.67 for the quarter, but that wasn't able to keep MCO stock down today.The Moody's earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2018 also includes net income of $252.70 million. This is an increase over the company's revenue of $28.50 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2017.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsOperating income in the Moody's earnings report for the fourth quarter of the year was $376.60 million. The financial services company reported operating income of $465.50 million in the same period of the year prior.Moody's earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019 also has revenue coming in at $1.06 billion. This is down from the company's revenue of $1.17 billion in the fourth quarter of the previous year. It was also below analysts' revenue estimate of $1.12 billion for the period, but MCO stock is still up today. * 10 Hot Stocks Leading the Market's Blitz Higher All of this is bad news for Moody's, so why is MCO stock up on Friday? This likely has to do with a dividend increase. The company is increasing its quarterly dividend by 14% to 50 cents per share. This dividend will be payable March 18, 2019 to shareholders on record Feb. 25, 2019.MCO stock was up 4% as of noon Friday. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * Should You Buy, Sell, Or Hold These 7 Medical Cannabis Stocks? * 7 Strong Buy Stocks With Over 20% Upside * 7 Reasons Stock Buybacks Should Be Illegal As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.Compare Brokers The post Moody's Earnings: MCO Stock Up Despite Earnings Miss appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Moody's Corp. said Friday it was raising its dividend by 14% and announced a $500 million accelerated stock repurchase (ASR) program, while reporting fourth-quarter profit and revenue that missed expectations. The stock was indicated down nearly 1% in premarket trade. The credit ratings company said net income rose to $250.3 million, or $1.29 a share, from $25.5 million, or 13 cents a share, a year ago, which included tax reform-related charges, while adjusted earnings per share rose 8% to $1.63, but was below the FactSet consensus of $1.68. Revenue fell 9% to $1.06 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $1.13 billion. Moody's said it was raising its quarterly dividend to 50 cents a share from 44 cents, with the new dividend payable March 18 to shareholders of record on Feb. 25. The $500 million ASR is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2019. Based on Thursday's stock closing price of $163.73, the new dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.22%, compared with the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 2.06%, and the company could repurchase up to 3.05 million shares, or about 1.6% of the shares outstanding, as part of the ASR. Moody's stock has run up 11% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.6%.

Markets eagerly, and optimistically, moved higher earlier in the week, as elite-level discussions transpired in Beijing between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Forced transfers of key technologies, subsidization of domestic businesses in competition with foreign entities, as well as intellectual property theft continue to be points where the two side are likely to be unable to find common ground.

On a per-share basis, the New York-based company said it had net income of $1.29. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs and amortization costs, came to $1.63 per share. The results did not meet Wall ...

On February 12, 2019, the Board of Directors of Moody’s Corporation declared a regular quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share of MCO Common Stock, a 14 percent increase from the prior quarter dividend of 44 cents per share.

Moody’s Analytics, a global provider of financial intelligence, has been named a Category Leader in Model Validation Solutions, 2019, a new Chartis Research report that assesses 10 leading vendors of model validation solutions.

Moody’s Analytics, a leading provider of financial intelligence, has added significant new automation functionality to the CreditLens credit-lifecycle-management solution, including automated spreading of financial statements and covenant tracking.

Moody's Corporation announced today that Thérèse Esperdy has been elected as a member of the Company’s Board, effective as of March 1, 2019. Ms. Esperdy also has been elected to the Board’s Audit, Governance & Nominating and Compensation & Human Resources Committees.

The double blow comes at a terrible time for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is gearing up to contest elections in May, seeking to lure $100 billion in new investment and trying to retain the nation’s sole investment-grade credit rating. The stayaway was called by the 1.6-million-member Congress of South African Trade Unions, which backs the ruling African National Congress. Embattled power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. produces more than 90 percent of the nation’s power and has been unable to meet demand after several of its generating units tripped.

(Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks halted a six-week rally last week amid concern over the outlook for U.S.-China trade talks and a global economic slowdown. The reduced appetite for risk also sent currencies down.

Beyond a pledge by Qatar to buy government bonds worth $500 million, Lebanon is looking “to have the confidence of Arab countries and other countries to place large deposits in the central bank of Lebanon, which is something that could happen fairly soon,” Hasbani told Bloomberg Television at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Lebanon, one of the world’s most indebted countries, has sought to mobilize support and allay investor concerns that it risks a financial meltdown driven by political turmoil and doubts over its ability to repay creditors.